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We would firstly like to thank all the college support staff for bearing with us through what is a significant but also lengthy Job Evaluation project. Activity continues as planned and we hope you will find this update useful.
Data cleansing and gathering further clarity from staff within the sector has continued throughout, to ensure robust information is being used for the process, and we would like to thank college staff in working to get responses to queries back to us so quickly.
Following a final review at the beginning of the year with college HR departments on the definite list of roles to be evaluated, the project team identified a significant increase in the estimated number of roles which are required to be evaluated across the 21 colleges. We now have around 2,430 roles being taken through the first and second scoring process.
This latest development means that we are now anticipating early July 2021 for completion of the final scoring process. The project is moving at pace though and over 58% of the roles have been through the final scoring process (both first and second scored) with two colleges fully complete and further six colleges are already nearly 90% complete.
Work around pay and grading is also progressing at pace and is being taken forward alongside the evaluation process. The Pay Modelling Software being used for this area of work is supplied by Zellis (previously NorthgateArinso). Work is beginning now on this and we hope to be able to report further progress in late summer. The Appeals Stage though is estimated to conclude in 2022.
We have two key working groups (Job Evaluation Working Group and Pay Working Group) as part of the project which are responsible for directing and supporting the various areas of work. These groups, which have members from both the support staff and management sides, continue to hold meaningful dialogue on key activity around every 6 weeks.
Once again, our continued thanks go to the Role Analysts for their hard work and for remaining with us throughout the project.
If you have any questions, you can contact your college HR department, Job Evaluation Project Team or UNISON, GMB, Unite.
First scoring is rapidly approaching conclusion, with five colleges having been fully evaluated with a further 11 colleges being 90%+ complete. The first scoring process is now projected to be completed by November 2020.
As previously reported, the timescale for outputs were revised in line with a later start in live evaluation. In light of this and to ensure that the project continued to be delivered on time and on budget, whilst ensuring the integrity of the Job Evaluation Scheme, the project team has recently revisited the second stage scoring process and recommended an amendment, as outlined in the agreed Role Analysis Protocol. This amendment reflected that during the second scoring process, only one Role Analyst will proceed to single score each individual role before joint scoring with a member from the first scoring panel (either a management or staff side), to produce a final agreed score.
This recommendation was agreed by the Job Evaluation Working Group and ratified by the National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) Side Table (Support) during October 2020. The amended version of the Role Analysis Protocol is available to view on the NJNC website. Second scoring has now commenced and is projected to be complete by April 2021.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Role Analysts for their continued perseverance and dedication to continue the work on the project, especially during the difficult times we have being faced with. This is very much recognised and appreciated by the project team.
We are now over 5 months into live evaluation of the roles and have started on nearly every college in scope. We are nearly finished the first scoring of 5 colleges and pace is really starting to increase as the analysts become more experienced and we continue to work to refine the guidance around the scheme. At present we have 21 analysts working on the project with a good balance between staff side and management side nominations on the panels which are working well together.
Our partners in the project at ECC, who provide the scheme we are using, have provided some positive feedback on the work of the analysts and will continue to assist us in ensuring the scheme is applied consistently and correctly.
The timescale for output has however required revision due to the later start of the live evaluation (January 2020 instead of November 2019) and the anticipated pace of work has been slower with outputs now scheduled for quarter 1 2021. Over the coming weeks we will be in touch with colleges who have analysts released to discuss any extensions required.
We would also like to thank staff in colleges for working to get responses to queries back to us quickly, particularly at this time when there are many competing priorities.
The evaluation of roles will commence from 11 November 2019. A dedicated team of trained role analysts selected and released from colleges across the country will initially test evaluate roles and thereafter undertake the evaluation of all roles submitted for evaluation. This activity will be significant and take a considerable period of time. Regular updates will be provided throughout.